End of Fantasy
by Cerulean Wings
Summary: "On the year before the arrival of the demon, Chaos, the Light Warriors will come, to rid the world of evil. Their trials will be many, and they will know the burden of heroism. They will find the Crystals, light them with the Orbs, and with their power defeat Chaos. I have seen the face of the future, and it is grim. I am Sage Sarda, the prophet. May fortune be with us."
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Zack pulled his longsword out of the goblin's corpse – or at least he _tried_ to. The blade was stuck almost all the way into the small monster's chest, after ending its life, but now it refused to come out nice and clean. So he placed one boot over the corpse and pushed as he pulled the sword's hilt with his hand. There! It came out no problem. Covered in goblin blood, but still.

"Forty two," said a quiet voice not far from him. Zack turned towards its sound as he wiped most of the blood out of his sword with forest leaves, facing the other person with him in the forest. It was a man of average height dressed in long blue robes, his head covered by an oversized pointy yellow hat. His face, however, wouldn't have been visible even without the hat, as it was shrouded in darkness, leaving his only facial feature as two yellow spheres, representing his eyes.

"Huh?" Zack asked, not understanding his companion's sudden comment. He strapped his longsword to his back, forming an "x" with the other one already strapped there. "Did you say something, Ozz?"

Ozz was looking absently at the goblin's corpse, and shrugged. "Forty two," he repeated. "That's how many goblins we've killed," he explained.

"Oh," Zack replied, not knowing what else to say to that. "You were counting them?" he asked, a bit perplexed. Ozz nodded, and Zack grinned broadly. "Haha! You're pretty weird! But hey, you're nice, so I can't complain."

Ozz didn't seem affected by the comment, or at least didn't show it – Zack had quickly found out that the robed man's demeanor matched his featureless face quite well, as he had been pretty inexpressive with him thus far.

"So anyway," Zack began to say, looking around the forest, "we should be getting pretty close to where they said they saw the 'mysterious light', yeah?"

The late afternoon's sun bathed the forest in its amber glow, creating longer and longer shadows as it sunk in the horizon. They had been searching since early morning, and their chance to find anything was slipping away with each inch that the sun descended.

Ozz looked around, eying the trees, rocks, and grass. "Hmm, we seem to be in the right direction, yes," he said. "But shouldn't we bury the goblins we killed?"

The question took Zack by surprise, even more than Ozz's body count. "Bury them? Like, give them a proper burial, you mean?" he asked to be sure he understood, and when Ozz nodded, he laughed out loud. "Ha! Oh man, you're funny. Why would you bury monsters? They're not people, and besides, they were trying to attack us, remember?"

"Hmm," Ozz replied, and kept looking around distractedly. "But what if something that likes goblin meat finds them? Wouldn't that bring trouble?" Despite his words, his tone indicated that either answer wouldn't bother him.

Zack laughed again and patted his red breastplate with confidence, which was the same color of his hair. "Hey, if something comes to hurt us, you've got me to stop it, alright? We just need to focus on finding the source of the light before night, and we can be back in Corneria by dawn if we don't rest for the night."

"But wouldn't it be easier to find this light at night, which is when scouts said they saw it, three times on three nights in a row?" Ozz asked.

"But maybe there's more to it," Zack explained, "maybe there's a sign of what's causing it! No one has been there yet because the king has his army busy with the monster attacks, so if we go to the general area perhaps we'll find a clue!" he said excitedly. "So how about it, Ozz? Are we going to find this thing and be famous, or what?!"

Ozz shrugged. "Yes, I suppose," was all he said. Zack hung his head for a moment, defeated. "Man, I'm trying to get you excited, here," he sighed, but then raised his head and grinned broadly, "But no worries! I'll get you jumping for joy one of these days!"

They kept walking at a good pace through the forest, keeping an eye for anything out of place. The shadows kept getting longer as time passed, and still they explored. Zack even began to look inside bushes and beneath rocks he could move, but this yielded no better results.

"We should be thinking of making a camp soon, so we have a nice fire going," Zack said as he finished searching another spot, this time inside a tree's hollow. "Wood won't be a problem, heh." He had lost track of Ozz, who had gone off to search some distance away from him.

"I've been meaning to ask, why did you come all the way to Corneria?"

He looked around but couldn't find the blue-robed man. The sound of his quiet voice pinpointed his location a moment later, behind a group of trees. "My master once told me that I would have to be in the forest south of kingdom of Corneria on a specific day – today – at midnight, and so I came here," Ozz replied, sounding distracted.

"Your... master?" Zack asked as he went around the trees, following Ozz's voice. "You mean the one who taught you to be a Black mage? I always thought that Black mages were self-taught."

"Most mages are taught by someone else," Ozz said, his voice closer now. Zack climbed over a boulder and hopped down on the other side, finally seeing his companion, who stood at the edge of a clearing.

"I see. It's good that you and I met in Corneria, it makes this whole search much more-" Zack was saying, when he finally reached the clearing, coming to a stop right besides Ozz. Zack couldn't believe his eyes: a part of the clearing, almost sixteen feet in diameter, was a perfect circle of dead grass. In fact, any sort of natural life that had been there was withered and lifeless, including flowers and roots.

"What-what is this?" Zack asked slowly, blinking several times, hoping he was seeing things. Why hadn't Ozz said anything before? "What the heck happened here?"

Ozz knelt by the edge and grabbed a handful of dead grass without a word. "H-hey, don't touch that!" Zack exclaimed, "It could be dangerous!"

But Ozz seemed fine. He looked at the grass on his gloved hand, then showed it to Zack, who leaned in a bit to see it better. "This grass is dead," Ozz said simply. Zack nodded slowly. "Yeah, but... how? It's like someone somehow drained the life out of all this in a perfect circle."

Ozz didn't answer, and instead he began walking into the clearing. Zack was about to stop him, but seeing that nothing happened when the mage stepped on the dead area, he decided to let it go. "Hmm, I don't sense active magic, only the remnants of it," Ozz commented as he walked on the dead part of the clearing. Zack had never considered himself superstitious about magic, but he still had a healthy those of respect mixed with fear for what he couldn't understand – and this perfect circle of death certainly qualified as that.

"I'm not sure, but we might be at the spot where the strange light was seen," Ozz was saying.

"It's just dead grass," Zack told himself, not paying attention to the mage, and took a deep breath. He raised his foot and placed it firmly inside the circle. Step.

"Ha! This is noth-"

There was a crashing sound nearby and the entire ground shook without warning, making all the trees shake. Zack gulped, quickly removing his foot from the dead grass. "Damn it, what did I do?!" he asked, looking around. Ozz had nearly lost his footing and was holding his hat to his shadowy head, his yellow eyes scanning the area as well.

"I don't think this is related to the clearing," he said calmly despite the situation. Another great crash resounded, this time closer, making the trees shake more and more. "Then what is this?" Zack asked, drawing his twin longswords, ready for a fight. "Goblins don't make this much noise!"

As if to answer his question, the source of the noise appeared, crashing through the trees surrounding the clearing closest to Zack. It was massive, muscular, brutal, and it had the brain of a bug: the ogre arrived with no subtlety for it needed none, as it was a being of pure strength, shoving trees around as if they were shrubs, uprooting many on its path to the clearing.

"So I was right," Ozz said quietly, tilting his neck up to look at the ogre, which was more than ten feet tall. Zack jumped back, avoiding a falling tree that would've buried him a moment later, and assumed a fighting stance. He had fought ogres before, but none so big. This was going to be painful for both parties, especially his.

"Yeah, he's unrelated to the dead grass," Zack agreed. Ozz shook his head and pointed at the ogre's hand, "No, that," he added, and Zack finally noticed what the ogre had been holding on to.

It was a dead goblin, one of many they had killed that day.

The ogre seemed to forget about Zack and Ozz for a moment and popped the goblin corpse into its mouth, biting and chewing noisily. Three seconds later it gulped and belched loudly.

"So you're not hungry anymore, right, big guy?" Zack asked with a nervous grin.

In response, the ogre roared and charged at him, all five hundred pounds of hulking death.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dodge.

That was the first rule of fighting enemies bigger and heavier than you.

Dodge. Keep moving, don't stand still for too long (unless you want to make yourself a target on purpose), and attack only when the opportunity presents itself.

Zack knew this principle well, and applied it to its fullest extent as the ogre launched punches, kicks, and all manner of combinations at him, all resulting in a ground-shaking tremor and a new crater when it hit the ground instead of him. Zack slashed and stabbed during the time it took the ogre to recover, only to dash away from the monster right before it could counter-attack, but his attacks were small and not too meaningful unless repeated over and over.

He had been doing this for less than twenty seconds, and it was already becoming difficult to keep up.

Zack couldn't really spare a moment to warn Ozz, who might not have any experience with ogres, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Black mage standing completely still by the clearing's center, his gloved hands placed near his chest, as if caressing an invisible sphere, seemingly oblivious of the danger barely some feet from him.

So maybe he _didn't_ know about fighting ogres.

Zack couldn't blame him – he guessed mages didn't get as much experience in combat as fighters like him, but he still had to make an added effort to keep the ogre from focusing on Ozz, lest it crushed him like a bug with one meaty fist. This meant moving by the clearing's perimeter, running in a big circle. The only problem was that the perimeter was filled with obstacles, like trees, forcing Zack's movement towards the center of the clearing – towards Ozz.

"So how did you like the goblins we left for you, big guy?" Zack asked after he dodged another blow that would've crushed all his bones, and instead sent a tree's upper half flying away. The ogre either didn't understand or didn't care to, for it grunted and jumped towards Zack, attempting a body-slam that would bury him.

Zack had no time to think and dived under the incoming giant, turning his move into a roll as he landed. The ogre's landing, barely a foot behind Zack, made the entire area shake as if hit by an earthquake, right as Zack stood from his roll, and he lost his footing.

Zack noticed Ozz was still in the same position as before, still as a statue – how the heck had he not fallen?

The ogre got up faster than Zack did, and instead of returning to him it focused its attention on Ozz. It would reach the mage in only two of its massive steps. The ogre took one, and Zack rushed to it, swords flashing. He brought both arms to one side of his body and slashed at the ogre's leg at the same time, creating twin cuts. The ogre moaned, suddenly in pain, and stopped its movement.

That was when Zack noticed a spark floating in mid-air, cradled between Ozz's hands. It was no trick of the light; Ozz was conjuring magic, but the ogre was already upon him, despite Zack's delay, and whatever spell he had in mind wouldn't go off after the ogre crushed him.

"Ozz, look out!"

The mage did look at Zack for a moment, then at the ogre, but his postured showed no fear. The spark on his hands glowed brightly, distracting Zack from the ogre, which had switched targets once again. It swung its huge arm sideways, and Zack jumped at the last second, and got clipped on the shoulder by one of the ogre's knuckles. It sent him sprawling several feet and reaching the end of the clearing, hitting his head against a tree's roots.

"Ow," he groaned. He was more dazed than wounded, thanks to his breastplate, but he needed to move before the two ogres – was he seeing double? - came upon him. He had barely managed to get on his feet when the monster raised a fist as big as a boulder to bring it down on him.

An explosion of sparks hit the ogre from behind, stunning it, and the sparks coalesced into wild arcs of lightning that run over the monster's body like snakes. The ogre screamed in pain haltingly for several seconds, its greasy hairs standing on end, and then it stopped abruptly just as the lightning faded away. Zack managed to somehow move out of the way as the giant dropped unceremoniously to the ground, creating another seismic activity.

Zack looked at Ozz, who had his arms extended forward, palms open, with hints of sparks dying out from them, and back at the ogre. He waited a couple of seconds before asking, "Is it dead?"

Ozz nodded, wiping his gloved hands against each other, getting rid of the static. "I channeled most of my mana into one big spell, rather than several small ones," he said, as if explaining everything.

Zack blinked at him, still a bit dazed. "So that's why you weren't moving at all?" he asked.

"Yes. You distracted it long enough for me to get the lightning off, so now its dead," he said simply, looking at the ogre, which had its back blackened by the blast. It was already starting to smell bad.

"Well, I'm glad you did it in time – a moment later an I would've been ogre food," Zack grinned. "Thanks Ozz!"

"You're welcome, Zack," Ozz said politely, and looked down to the circle of dead grass. "What shall we do with this? The light came from here, clearly."

Zack approached the clearing's center where Ozz stood, looking for something they may have missed before, but if there was such a thing, he couldn't spot it. "I'm thinking we shouldn't make camp near here – I don't want something else attacking us because of the corpse."

Two seconds had passed after he said that when another massive crash was heard near the clearing, this one very close. Everything shook once more with an odd familiarity, and again a moment later.

"You've got to be kidding me," Zack cursed, looking in the direction of the new seismic activity, not too far from the initial one. There was another crash, the sound of many trees falling and breaking, and then... silence.

Zack and Ozz shared a look as they stood at the center of the clearing, appreciating the calm. "Maybe it changed its mind?" Ozz offered. "Hey, that would be nice," Zack said.

The ogre, a new one, came crashing through the woods near the spot where the previous one had. This one was even bigger and meaner than the first, and it didn't stop its mad rush at the clearing – it just kept going towards Ozz and Zack, roaring madly.

"If you have a spell to stop him, please use it _now_!" Zack shouted over the noise of the charging ogre. Ozz took a step backward, holding his hands together like he had before when he conjured lightning, and Zack could hear the humming of energy forming around his companion. But the ogre was already upon them, and it brought with it a tree it used for a club, bringing it down towards them, and big enough to hit them both.

Zack felt it before he saw it, a massive flash of energy behind him, just as the ogre attacked, and he dived to the side hoping escape most of the ogre's club. But the expected "woosh" that would be heard when the ogre's club descended was completely absent.

Zack rose quickly, and what he saw left him stupefied.

The ogre was bringing its club down, but it was doing so at such a ridiculously slow speed that it might as well be gently laying the tree trunk down. Red glowing symbols were flying around it in two circles that met at two opposite points, and Zack knew enough about magic to guess that that was the spell keeping it like that. He didn't know how long this would last, so he steadied his swords and ran towards the ogre.

It was like climbing a boulder made of meat, really. Zack began by the legs, jumped up to its back – now bent forward because of swinging down the club – and reached the ogre's head. Zack placed his swords in an "x" in front of him and jumped past the ogre's head, slashing down as he turned around and descended.

He landed down gracefully, his blades coated in ogre blood, and the head fell behind him, separate from the body and thus not slowed. The rest of the body kept moving the way it had in life, still in slow-motion.

"Hey, Ozz, good job buddy!" he said to his companion, "Now I'm doubly glad I found you in Corneria before I came to explore this mystery!"

But Ozz was still channeling a spell, creating another spark in between his hands. "That... wasn't my magic," he said slowly, his spark vanishing into thin air, clearly surprised. Zack blinked, looking from the mage to the slowed-down decapitated ogre and back.

"You're kidding. If it wasn't you, then-"

They turned their heads to look behind themselves. Where there had been nothing on the withered grass now lay a person dressed in red robes. He was sitting on the floor, holding one hand tightly to his chest, and his other arm was extended forward, aiming a small metallic disk at the newly dead ogre. The man was breathing heavily and with difficulty. He opened his mouth to say something, but only blood came out in a cough.

Zack and Ozz dashed towards him and held him from each side. "Whoa! Where did you come from? Was that your magic?" Zack asked him quickly, but not really expecting an answer. Now that they were next to him he could see that the man was pretty old, probably in his sixties, and had a thick white mustache on his face, which was mostly covered by a hood.

"Masked... woman..." the old man gasped at them, coughing more blood, unable to keep going.

"D-don't talk anymore! We'll take care of you!" Zack told him, trying to find the source of his injury, which must have been worsening by the second.

"It's his chest," Ozz said suddenly, removing the old man's hand from his chest. The man's hand was coated in his own blood. "Good call – I wouldn't have noticed it since it's the same color as his robe!" Zack said as he looked into his pack for bandages. He always had some with him, and began applying them to the wounded man.

He lifted off part of his robes to assess the wound, and it looked brutal – it was part slash, part burn, as if a sharp blade had cut deeply, somehow burning past the edges of the wound. Zack had no idea what could cause such an injury, and did what he could, which was much better than nothing.

He was done in a minute, and the old man had faded into unconsciousness. "I... I think that will give him some time," Zack said, letting out a sigh. He wiped some of the blood off with the ground, but he'd have to get the rest washed later. He stood up and looked at the setting sun, frowning. "We need to go back to Corneria, get a healer, or he's not going to make it," Zack said. "Ozz, can you help me put him on my back?"

Ozz did so without a word as quickly as he could, taking care to store the man's metal disk into his robes, and Zack held the limp body by the legs, leaning forward as to avoid him falling.

"Let's go. We have to run – the forest is going to get nasty at night, and we don't have the time for interruptions," Zack said and began heading north, towards Corneria, their only hope of finding a healer.

Ozz lingered on the clearing, taking a look at the ogre's corpse, which was finally released from its slow-motion and was affected by gravity once more, crashing to the ground with its club barely a foot away from the mage.

"Time magic..." Ozz muttered.

Zack's shout brought him back to focus and Ozz started running after him, holding on to his hat with one hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The sun had sunk all the way over the horizon and they were only halfway through to the city of Corneria. Maybe. Neither Zack nor Ozz could really give a good guess as to the remaining distance, not while they were running full speed through a forest that kept getting darker and darker. It was particularly hard for Zack, who carried the wounded old man on his back, and had to keep him in mind every time he neared a low-hanging branch, or jumped over a rock.

If the man fell from his back...

"Damn it, we have to make it," Zack cursed under his breath. The sky had almost gone from orange-green to green-blue, and some stars were beginning to twinkle. But he wasn't getting any faster – in fact, breathing was becoming a difficult exercise.

"I can make light when it gets really dark," Ozz said at one point, summoning a flame around his hand as demonstration. "I won't be able to do anything else, however," he added. Zack made a mental note of that and pushed on. At times he felt tempted to stop to check the old man's condition, but he told himself to believe in his own first-aid treatment. They didn't have a second to spare.

They ran for about three hours, taking some small breaks when they could. The sky had dressed itself in its nightly colors when they heard the howling. First it was one, far away, but then others echoed its cry, and suddenly it seemed like the entire forest around them was howling.

"Wolves," Zack said, panting, scanning the woods around as he ran, but saw only darkness. "If they catch us, we'll have to stop, and I can't well put this man on the ground," he told Ozz. The black mage had already summoned a flame around one hand to light their path, illuminating ten feet around them like a torch.

"I will fight them if it comes to that," Ozz said simply, making the flame on his hand brighten for emphasis. Zack smiled at him, glad to have him around.

Zack almost tripped when he saw a pair of lupine eyes suspended on mid-air, barely twenty feet ahead. The wolf was blocking their path, and its howl was answered by at least ten more, all coming from around them. Zack couldn't see the animals, but he sensed that the wolves were close enough to form a circle around them.

"Ozz, it's all up to you, buddy!"

Ozz nodded and brought his hands together, making the air around him turn hazy and distorted. The fire he had before, something akin to a torch, now became a great flame, like one of a massive hearth. Zack gasped as Ozz retracted his hands to shoot at the wolf in front of them.

"Wait, you'll burn down the forest! Can't you use another spell?!" Zack shouted, suddenly realizing the obvious consequences of throwing fire there, magical or not. Ozz dismissed the flame in a second and their only light faded. Zack felt the air around the black mage get colder, and saw an ice crystal floating over his hands.

"I have this," Ozz replied, throwing the crystal towards the wolf in front of them with a thrust of his hand. It flew fast like an arrow and exploded as it hit the wolf, covering it in ice fragments. The animal yelped, wounded, and moved away towards the trees, where it disappeared. The growls of its pack were close to them, and Zack saw no possible escape route, so he stood with his back against Ozz's.

"Keep doing that! Keep attacking them!"

Ozz did, but the next ice crystals were thrown a the darkness where he guessed the wolves were. They heard the crystals explode, sometimes followed by a yelp or growl, but the number of wolves wasn't decreasing.

"It's very hard to cast spells at the darkness," Ozz said quietly, some frustration creeping into his voice. He flung another ice crystal where a wolf was about to come out of the woods, and hit a tree instead, scaring the wolf for a moment.

Several wolves appeared from the bushes, growling at Zack. The warrior gritted his teeth, trapped between sacrificing himself for the wounded man, or letting him go in order to fight the animals.

The sound of a whistle distracted him from his dilemma. What tree had it come from? Was it that one? No, perhaps the next one - Zack couldn't see anything, but there was _someone_ there, up on the branches.

"It seems like I arrived just in time," a soft voice said, slightly melodious and dripping with quiet confidence. "I wouldn't mind saving you three at all, not really, but only if you pay me back later."

Zack couldn't believe his ears – at first he had been elated that someone was there, and he could help them, but his stomach churned when he heard that it would be at a price.

"Look, we have a wounded man, and he'll die if we don't get him to a healer!" he shouted towards the voice. "Just get the wolves off of us!"

"I can get rid of the ten wolves harassing you, no problem," the voice said, this time coming from several feet from its previous origin. "But, again, you humans will owe me one. I'm not running a charity, here."

As if to punctuate how little choice they had, the wolves that had approached Zack began barking and growling at him, well within reach to pounce. He gritted his teeth and looked over his shoulder at Ozz, who kept throwing ice crystals at the darkness. "I... can't keep doing this forever," the mage said, sounding very tired. Of course, after all that running, and now casting spell after spell, it was no surprise.

"I trust your decision, Zack."

"Fine," Zack muttered, and then, in a louder tone, "Fine! You have a deal! I'll pay your price, whatever you want, after you help us!"

His words echoed in the forest, and there was no reply. Zack felt a chill – he had been too late to take the offer, their help had left, and now they were going to pay dearly for it. The man on his back, whoever he was, wasn't going to make it.

A wolf cried out in pain from the area behind Zack and Ozz yelped. Zack heard him mutter "But my spell didn't hit it..."

"Ozz, get these ones off of me!" Zack shouted, moving to the side and facing the other way. Ozz mirrored him and they met back-to-back once more. The mage held his arms extended in front of him and shot a spray of ice crystals, sending the wolves many feet back in a fright, back to the trees and bushes.

Facing the opposite way, Zack could have sworn there was a shadow moving through the trees, fast like a gust of wind and just as quiet. Suddenly a wolf cried out, and its cry was abruptly cut off. Then the same thing happened again and again where the other wolves had been. Everywhere the shadow went, wolves ceased to live.

"He's helping us," Zack finally realized. He was beginning to spot their shadowy aid, catching glimpses of his slender figure when it remained out of the shadows for a second too long. More than six wolves had been put down, and the remaining ones began howling, which a moment later Zack understood that it meant "retreat", for the growls and howls got further and further away from them.

And then the night was quiet again. Ozz lowered his hands, which were covered in ice that dissolved as the magic disappeared, and sighed tiredly. Zack looked for more signs of wolves or any other threat, and thankfully there was none.

"Phew. We made it," Zack said.

"All thanks to me, of course."

Both warrior and mage turned to the source of the voice – the same one from moments ago. This time it came from the ground, not many feet away. The figure was barely visible under the star light, and Ozz lit the area with a small flame on his hand. However, the man was exactly by the edge of the darkness, making his figure clear, but his features remained hidden. Zack's intuition told him that this was no coincidence.

"Are you going to get closer, or are you afraid of magic fire?" Zack asked wearily. The man had helped them, yes, but his demeanor was highly suspicious.

"Afraid? Me?" the man replied with amusement and a chuckle. "Please. It's you humans who should be afraid of _me_, who can see in the darkness as well as those wolves," he said confidently as he strode into the light at an easy pace. His legs came first, covered by fine dark green leather armor that seemed untouched by dirt, and a pair of twin daggers rested on each side of his hips. Then his chest appeared, protected by the chest piece that matched the leggings, and the outer side of his slender but tough arms were covered by bracers. Last came his head, that of a young man with elegant features that seemed the work of a great artist, without a hint of facial hair, and pointy ears partially covered by cerulean hair.

He stopped within arm's reach of them and folded his arms across his chest, a sly smile planted on his face. "So. I would like to know who you are, humans – it's only proper, if you're going to eventually pay me back for saving your sorry hides."

Zack smiled back despite his surprise – what was an elf doing on the southern continent? It usually meant trouble of some sort. "Sounds fair. I'm Zack, and this is Ozz," he said, gesturing to the mage with his head. Ozz only nodded.

The elf tilted his head to the side, looking at Zack inquisitively, and Zack didn't know what to say. "My name is Ryldael, but I prefer if humans call me 'Ryld'. Now are you going to tell me who the man in the red robe is, or is he some sort of secret?"

"Er, sure," Zack said, smiling awkwardly, "This is..." he said, his words trailing off as he realized what the problem was. "Actually, I've no idea. We just found him some hours ago on a clearing, while fighting some ogres. He just... popped in from nowhere. Must be a mage, I'm thinking."

Ryld looked at him as if trying to decide if Zack was making an elaborate lie or if he was just dumb. "Right. Found him wounded on a clearing. Sounds legitimate," he said sarcastically.

"I'm glad you think so," Ozz said, talking for the first time, not catching his sarcasm. "We appreciate your help, Mister Ryld. It's very nice of you to save us, complete strangers."

Ryld raised an eyebrow and said "Please, just 'Ryld'." Zack eyed Ozz in amazement, wondering if the mage had already forgotten that there was a price attached to the elf's help.

"So you were doing all of this for some stranger?" Ryld asked, trying to understand the situation. "Why didn't you drop him off when the wolves were about to attack? Or were you planning on beating them by means of headbutts and kicks?"

Zack frowned at this. "Hey, just because he's a stranger doesn't mean I won't care for him, every life is important!"

"So your life must be less important than his" Ryld concluded. "Because at the rate you two were going, you were going to become dog food _fast_, all because you couldn't prioritize your life over his. I'm just saying, if I had to choose between everyone dying and some of my group dying, I'd go with the latter without regrets."

They were quiet for a moment after that, and Ryld shrugged, turning away from them. "But hey, it's none if my business how you two lead your lives. Do whatever, get killed... but not _before_ you pay me back," he added, turning back and winking at Zack, who just smiled.

"Sure, Ryld, you got it." He re-adjusted his load, still limp on his back, and walked forward, Ozz in tow.

"Let's take you to Corneria, then," Ryld said as they began to run once more.

The old man began to cough, making everyone stop. Zack remained still like a statue as the coughs intensified. "Just how bad were his injuries?" Ryld asked with a frown as he approached quickly. "We're still an hour from the city."

Zack cursed under his breath and placed the robed man on the ground as gently as he could. The coughing slowed down, but he looked pale under Ozz's magical fire. "I'm no expert, but this human may only have minutes left," Ryld observed as he knelt by the wounded man, checking his pulse with one hand.

"Do you have anything that might help?" Ozz asked, and Ryld shook his head quickly. "If I had, I would've used it already. I only know first aid, and you already did that, so..."

Zack punched the ground next to him. "Damn it! We were so close!" he shouted, hanging his head. No one said anything, and the three remained by the old man, whose breaths were becoming more and more labored.

"I guess there's only one thing left to do," Ryld said as he leaned forward and began searching the man's pockets. Zack and Ozz shared a look, then stared at Ryld in utter stupefaction. "What are you doing?! He hasn't even died and you're already stealing from him!" Zack said. Ryld stopped for a moment to shoot an amused look at him.

"Really? Is that what you think we elves do? Steal from the not-yet-dead?" he asked, clicking his tongue and resuming his search. "Stop looking at me funny and help me search. You said he's a mage, right? That means he might have something that can heal him!"

Zack and Ozz shared another look, and both said "Oh," at the same time. Then they joined Ryld in the almost morbid search for items of value. After some seconds Ozz pulled out a bloodied parchment from the robes. The others hadn't found anything yet, so they looked at the mage expectantly.

"Can you read it?" Ryld asked. Ozz scanned the text silently and eventually nodded. "Only a small part. It looks like a list of things he wanted to do, and there's one line not covered by the blood: 'Red mage, forest, midnight'."

Ryld and Zack waited, but Ozz kept quiet. "Is that it?" Zack asked, surprised, and Ozz nodded. Ryld sighed, running one hand through his hair.

"So much for that. I don't even know how that could be of use to anyone."

"Yeah," Zack said, disappointment sinking in once more. "What the heck does he mean by 'red mage'? Isn't this one a 'red mage', since he's wearing robes with that color?"

"I think it has to do with the color of the magic," Ozz offered, sounding unsure. No one said anything. The old man's coughs had died, and his breathing was almost gone as well.

Zack was tired of looking at the dying man and raised his head to gaze at the night sky. It was full of stars now, twinkling happily, so far away from the troubles on earth. Despite everything, he smiled. "It was fun, trying to save this complete stranger. Too bad we couldn't make it."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Ozz by his side, his yellow eyes looking at him with sympathy. "Don't feel bad, Zack. You did your best. You're a very nice person."

Zack grinned at that. "Really? You think so? Thanks Ozz, that makes me feel a little better."

Ryld had remained where he was, kneeling by the body, frowning in concentration at the bloodied note that Ozz had found. "What is it?" Zack asked. Ryld looked up at him, his gray eyes shining.

"I have an idea."

He stood at once and the others imitated him. "Go on," Zack said quietly, daring to feel hope again. Ryld looked at the old man on the ground, then at the sky. "What are the chances that the message is talking about some other forest, at some other day? I was sent here as a diplomat from my kingdom to meet with 'someone' in this very forest, at midnight, on this day – which is why it's no coincidence that we found each other."

Ozz "Hmm"ed and looked at the sky. "It is probably midnight now. And now that I think of it, my master told me to meet with 'someone' here on this very night, as well." He looked back at them, then at Zack. "Did you get such a message?"

Zack shook his head, but his eyes were wide with surprise. "Still! This is a ridiculous amount of coincidences! I don't know who this Red Mage is, but if he can help us..." he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. It was desperate, but it was their only hope. "Wait, how were all of you supposed to meet tonight in this big forest?" he asked.

"Magic," Ryld said at once, then turned to face Ozz. "Can you make some sort of signal that reaches the sky and is big and shiny?"

Ozz nodded and took a couple of steps away from them. The mage raised his hands to the air and suddenly a bright flame sprung to life above them. Ozz retracted his arms and thrust them skyward, hurling the fireball several feet high, way above the trees, exploding at the apex of its jump in a shower of embers. The other two watched him, mesmerized, and Ozz shrugged. "Should I do another?"

"Y-yeah! Keep it up!" Zack said, hands clenched into fists in front of him.

"Do it periodically, so it can't be missed," Ryld said, and Ozz did so, launching fireball after fireball into the air. The forest was illuminated for brief periods of time as the fireworks went on and off, scaring away nearby wildlife. Zack and Ryld watched him in silence, following the arc of every signal fire until its explosion.

Ozz had launched his tenth fireball, which exploded like the others, when Ryld turned his attention sharply to a different part of the sky, his eyes narrowed. Ozz made more fire, but didn't throw it up yet, observing the elf.

"Do it again," Ryld told him in a whisper, and Ozz complied. Zack looked in the same direction Ryld was facing, and when the fireball exploded he saw it too. "There's someone there, standing on top of a tree," Ryld whispered. Zack could barely see a silhouette, but there was certainly someone there.

"Send forth no more fire to the skies, my fellows!" the figure said from the tree it stood on. The figure jumped forward towards them and descended with a fluid acrobatic stunt, landing on one knee a small distance from them. The man – as it was clear from his voice – had his crouched body covered in a cloak, and jumped up to a standing position, legs and arms spread out, making the cloak flap behind him dramatically.

"Help has arrived, and in the shape of a dashing hero who wields blade and magic, in one combined!" he declared with conviction. From his left hand erupted a white sphere of light, illuminating his body. The man was dressed in tight-fitting clothes that were all red from top to bottom: a long-sleeved shirt, pants, his cloak, and even his boots were crimson. His face was partially covered by a red cloth that reached from his neck to his mouth, and his shoulder-length hair, which was white despite his young features, was covered by a wide-brimmed hat with a white feather on top.

"It is I, the Red Mage!" he cried, using his right hand to draw a saber that was sheathed by his belt, and posed dramatically, holding weapon and light on each hand. He held that pose for a moment, and then a gust of wind rushed by and threw his cloak at his face.

"Damnation," the red mage cursed in a whisper.

Zack didn't know whether to clap his hands or to bury his face in them, so he just stared at the newcomer in disbelief. Was he an actor, rehearsing his lines for a play? If so, what was he doing in the forest?

"Wow," he heard Ozz say in an awed tone.

"I hope you've got magic to back up all that madness you just spouted, human," Ryld said, his tone unimpressed. "We've got a wounded old man who's about to go to the Other Side unless you heal him." Ryld narrowed his eyes and added, "You _can_ heal him, yes?"

In response, the red mage sheathed his blade with a flourish and bowed with the same movement, vanishing the white light. "Indeed! Black and White magic are mine to command! I am the crimson mage who can do it all!" he said, thrusting his index finger at Ryld, who still looked unimpressed.

"Would you mind leaving the theatrics for after healing the nearly dead old man who we don't even know who he is?" Ryld asked patiently, gesturing to the red robed man on the floor behind them. The red mage looked stunned, as if he were used to another reaction to his introduction, but regained his composure quickly and dashed towards the wounded man.

"But of course! I shall have him healed in no time!" he said, placing his hands over the old man's chest, and then looked to the three others, a bit flustered. "Er, would one of you kind sirs give me some light so that-oh, yes, wonderful, thank you!" he said, nodding in appreciation to Ozz, who had summoned a flame as he was talking. Now that there was light again, the newcomer focused on the old man. He took one deep breath and closed his eyes, and his hands glowed with a pearly white aura that moved to envelop the wounded man.

"That's-that's healing magic, right?" Zack asked, crouching on the other side of the man being healed. Ryld and Ozz were next to him, and the black mage nodded. "Yes, this is White magic."

"Gentlemen, please," the red mage said in a low tone, his eyes still closed and his face tense with concentration. "His injury is grave, and I require some quiet to tend to it." And so they remained in silence, watching him work. Zack felt like they were watching the white aura bathe over the old man's body for an eternity, but it was probably less than half a minute. The old man's breathing suddenly changed, and he started to cough, but this time there was no blood.

The red mage wiped sweat from his brow and sighed. "Good. He's stable, and may even be able to move now," he told them as the last traces of healing light vanished from his hands. "He's still in pain, and most of the damage is still there, for there's only so much my magic can do, but he won't die today!"

Zack got to his feet and jumped as high as he could, punching the air with a fist. "WOOOH! He's not a goner! The old man is not a goner!"

Ozz and Ryld rose to their feet, and the elf shook his head slowly. "Keep it up and you'll bring those wolves back," he chided him with a smirk. Zack wasn't listening, and grabbed Ozz's hands and started spinning in circles with him. "We're very thankful, mister red mage," Ozz said as he danced with Zack. "You're very nice to have healed this man."

The red mage stood up and bowed deeply. "It is my pleasure, good man. And please, you may call me Kaen."

"It's nice to meet you, mister Kaen," Ozz said, still being spun around by Zack.

Ryld eyed Kaen up and down, as if considering something. "So you must be the one this man mentioned on the note. Did you get a message telling you to come here?" Kaen nodded, thrusting one hand into his pocket and producing a simple letter. "He told me to meet him in this forest at midnight this very day, and so I came! Good thing you made the signal fires, or I would've arrived too late!"

"Right, that was my idea-" Ryld began to say, stopped, and eyed the red mage suspiciously. "Hold on, do you know who this old man that we've been stressing over for the last half hour is?!"

Zack had stopped dancing with around with Ozz by then, and joined the conversation. "Hey, yeah, I've been wondering about that all this time. Who is he? Someone important?"

Kaen looked at them incredulously, taking a step back, as if afraid to catch whatever disease ailed them. "Y-you jest! Do you not recognize this old man for who he truly is?" he asked, gesturing to him, who was now breathing normally as he lay on the ground. Everyone's blank faces told Kaen what the answer was, and he cleared his throat.

"This, my good fellows, is no other than Sage Sarda, the Prophet!"

Ozz gasped.

Ryld's jaw dropped.

Zack blinked. "Sage _who_?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Everyone stared at Zack as if he had said the stupidest thing possible, mainly because he had, at least in their eyes. "What! I'm just a guy who swings swords and makes the bad guys go dead! You can't expect me to know everything!" he said.

Ryld shook his head. "Are all humans this ignorant? I knew of Sage Sarda, like any elf, but had never met him in person."

"N-no, he's certainly not a representation of humanity as a whole!" Kaen assured him, giving Zack a look of "you're making us look bad in front of the elf".

"You really don't know, Zack?" Ozz asked curiously. "Sage Sarda is the prophet who has lived more than a century and only looks like he's sixty years old. He's a really influential person that has shaped many events throughout the last century. I'm not so sure about the prophecy of Chaos, but the rest is all part of history."

"Er, sure, I'll take your word for it," Zack said, smiling awkwardly. "So we saved a prophet, huh? That makes us heroes! We'll be famous after everyone finds out!" he added excitedly.

"If there's a reward, most of it will go to me, naturally," Ryld said, folding his arms. "I'm the one who found you first and saved you from becoming dinner for those wolves, remember?"

Kaen cleared his throat politely and took a step toward the elf. "Now, I don't mean to contradict you, here, sir elf-,"

"It's Ryld."

"-ahem, Ryld, but I'm the one who healed the prophet in question! Wouldn't most of the glory be awarded to me, then?"

"But I'm the one who brought you here with my magic," Ozz pointed out, but sounding indifferent regarding the distribution of this "glory".

Zack chuckled, drawing all eyes to himself. "And you're all forgetting who carried him to this place," he said, touching his breastplate with a thumb, "me! So it'll be 'Zack the Fighter' who gets all the gold and ladies."

It was Ryld's turn to chuckle. "Really? With your looks, you'll have to use all that gold to get all those ladies to sleep with you. I only have to walk near them and they're at my feet, begging for my attention," he said with a haughty tone.

"Good looks are nothing!" Kaen said, slashing the air with a hand. "It's all about how one carries himself, and how intelligent one is – only dumb women are attracted to dumb men!"

"Who are you calling 'dumb', red mage?" Ryld asked, narrowing his eyes.

"What about black magic? There might be some interested in that..." Ozz said hopefully, oblivious to Ryld's comment.

Ryld made a troubled expression. "Maybe if they're into getting burned, frozen, or electrocuted," he said with disgust.

"Is that a thing?" Zack asked, suddenly interested in the topic. "Because then all you have to do is find the right girl, Ozz!"

"We're not discussing those sick preferences, especially in he middle of a forest at midnight!" Kaen said. "Good Gods, am I the only sane person here?"

"That's what I ask myself sometimes, to be honest."

Everybody froze. The voice that had said that wasn't one of them. They slowly turned at the same time to face its source: the old man, Sage Sarda, stood firmly on his feet, one hand flat on his chest.

"What? You four look like you've seen a ghost," Sarda said, his voice tired and slightly grouchy. "This injury wasn't part of my plan, but neither was getting healed, so I suppose that evens out. But enough talk – we have a prophecy to fulfill, gentlemen."

Kaen stuttered a response, then went down on one knee, head bowed. "Sage Sarda! Oh, how long have I waited for this fateful encounter! Many are the questions that I-"

Sarda cleared his throat loudly and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I've no time for lengthy speeches. I will just say that it is good to have you four here, like I had planned."

He faced Ozz and nodded. "The black mage, sent by his master."

Kaen got up slowly, embarrassed. Sarda nodded at him. "The red mage, whom I contacted directly."

Then he turned to Ryld, nodding as well. "The elf, sent by his people as an ambassador."

Finally he faced Zack, who stood awkwardly, and said, "And the fighter, of course. Although the circumstances are different from planned, the prophecy still stands, as you four have answered its call by meeting me here on this fateful night."

Zack stared blankly at Sarda. "We... did?" he asked, then looked a the others.

"Of course," Sarda went on, "you all got my letter, each through different means, and made it here. There are two more I was expecting, but no matter, they'll meet with you shortly." He stroked his mustache as he eyed Zack.

"Hmm? I could have sworn you said you wouldn't be coming, actually. I'm glad you changed your mind."

"I... did?" Zack asked, confused. "You're probably thinking of someone else – I'm Zack, and I had no idea who you were until a minute ago!" he said with a grin. Sarda shrugged, not giving it much importance.

"Well, _you_ are here, so that's that. Good enough for me, and the prophecy. There are no coincidences in life, Zack, remember that."

The old man took his hand off his chest and breathed deeply, wincing at the end. "Argh. And that katana was deadlier than it looked, that's no coincidence either," he complained in a low voice as he looked at his chest.

"Who attacked you, Sage Sarda?" Ryld asked, eyes narrowed. "Is the assassin still in the forest?"

"It was a masked woman wielding a katana, her reasons unclear - she's probably insane - and I don't believe she's in the area anymore, for I managed to lose her after her surprise attack, three days ago," Sarda said.

"Three days?" Ryld said, raising an eyebrow. "How did you survive with a wound like that?"

"Never mind that," Sarda said, "Let's move on... to the prophecy."

Sarda made sure he had their full attention and began to speak, his tone slow and even more serious than before. The forest seemed to quiet even more as he spoke, and not one nocturnal creature stirred as he did.

"Heed my words, young ones, for I am Sarda, the Prophet, who has lived more than a century."

"I have seen the face of the future, and it is grim. The land is cracked like broken glass, where no life may grow or prosper; the sea rages and destroys the land near it, and only terrible horrors dwell there; the sky is covered in endless storm clouds, raining acid upon the world; and the mountains spew fire and lava, burning all around them."

"This future will become our present in less than a year, when the demon Chaos arrives, if he is allowed to triumph. You four are the chosen ones, the Light Warriors, who must find the four Crystals, light them with the Orbs, and use their powers to fight Chaos."

"This I have foreseen."

Sarda paused to let it sink in, and only then did the forest around them seem to come back to its nightly life. The Sage considered their reactions to his prophecy.

Ozz was quiet.

Kaen was determined.

Ryld was serious.

And Zack was... excited.

"What say you?" Sarda asked gravely.

"This is even better! Not only did we save Sage Sarda," Zack said, "but we also get to be heroes! This is the day best ever!" he shouted, jumping and punching the air above him.

"Y'know, when this is coming from the man that didn't even know the name of the prophet a minute ago..." Ryld said with a sigh. "... it makes you wonder just how much he'll believe if you tell him something with a straight face."

Sarda nodded. "I appreciate the confidence, but it _is_ somewhat worrisome. Most people would think I've gone senile."

"I knew of your role in history, as my master taught me," Ozz said, "but I had always thought that the prophecy was a legend. I would never have guessed that I'd be part of it. This is very surprising!"

"The passing of time has eroded most of its truth, clearly," Sarda said. "But true it is, unfortunately. The demon Chaos _will_ arrive, and we must be ready for him. Only in the last year before his arrival will the Light Warriors appear, as you have now, and light the four Crystals with the four Orbs, to do battle with Chaos."

"I have dreamed about this since I was a boy," Kaen admitted in embarrassment, his voice thick with emotion, as he scratched the side of his face with a finger. "I... couldn't be happier!"

"Well, you've got me as the elven ambassador – we have always believed in your prophecy, and I'll do what I have to do for my kingdom," Ryld said, shrugging.

Zack was still cheering, whooping, jumping, and celebrating, his spirit full of jubilation. After a minute, and with the subtle suggestion of Sarda, who was beginning to have a headache, he calmed down somewhat. "Sorry – this is a big thing for me," Zack grinned.

"Hmph," Sarda said. "Well, good. Now that we're all on the same page, the last thing that you must know is this: the king of Corneria has the Earth Crystal, and you must prove to him your worth for him to hand it over."

"But you said a moment ago that we were the 'chosen ones' or some-such!" Zack complained, and Sarda cleared his throat.

"I _did_. But just because you _can_ save the world doesn't mean you _will_ - at least not right away. The trials that you'll overcome in order to get to the Crystals will strengthen you so that you may defeat the terrible fiends that serve Chaos, who will assuredly get in your way to the Orbs."

Zack tilted his head to the side for a moment, thinking. "Yeah, alright, that sounds reasonable," he said, nodding to himself.

"Good. Now where was I?" Sarda asked himself. "Ah, yes, the king of Corneria. You must present yourselves as the Light Warriors chosen by me, Sage Sarda, and request a suitable challenge to prove your worth to receive the Earth Crystal. Once you have it, you'll use it to guide yourselves to the Fire Crystal – each Crystal is linked to another one, forming a chain, so if you have one you can find the next one, and so on until you have all four: Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind, each assigned to one Orb of the same element."

The Sage paused, rubbing his chest where his injury was. "Any questions? Only critical matters, now – time is of the essence," he said. The four Light Warriors considered this. Kaen cleared his throat and raised an index finger.

"I have a question, Sage Sarda. What will happen once we have the four Crystals? How will we find you?"

"Never mind that – I will find you when the time comes, perhaps even before. You four worry about getting the Crystals. Remember, we have less than a year. Anything else?"

"Do you know Time magic?" Ozz asked, drawing odd looks from everyone present. Sarda appeared shocked by this sudden question, and the Sage looked away for a moment. "Now how is this relevant to your quest? It isn't. So unless you have any further questions..."

"I've got none," Ryld said.

"I have understood our quest, and I will record our journey so it won't be lost to the ages!" Ryld declared, producing a blank scroll from his pouch and grabbing his feather from his hat, ready to scribe away. "We shan't disappoint you, Sage Sarda!"

"I think this will be a nice adventure," Ozz said.

"I'm excited," Zack said with a grin. "Did I mention that I'm excited?"

Sarda sighed. "You did. Repeatedly. But if you're all set to go, then I shall leave you. May we meet again, Light Warriors." The old man took out a metal disk from his pocket, the one Zack and Ozz had seen before, and looked into it. Suddenly the air around Sarda distorted and shifted, becoming hazy, and then bright with a magical light that covered his entire figure.

There was a flash, and then he was gone.

Zack's jaw would've hit the floor, had it not been attached to his skull.

"That was probably the light that people saw the other nights," Ozz observed, staring a the spot where Sarda had been a moment ago. "Interesting magic."

"Indeed!" Kaen said. "I would have loved to know more about him – ah, the opportunity to ask Sage Sarda _anything_, and yet so little time. But still, I did get to meet with him, at least."

Ryld chuckled. "Your priorities amuse me – I can only think of being a Light Warrior right now. I don't know a single elf who wouldn't want to be in my position. Now, Zack, it's been a long day for everyone, and we'd appreciate it if you could quiet down about-" Ryld said, but stopped when he noticed that Zack wasn't next to them anymore. "Where the hell did he go?"

"There," Ozz said, pointing to Zack's disappearing figure, who was running north in the direction of the city of Corneria. The remaining three Light Warriors shared looks and as one joined the fighter in his run through the forest.

"W-wait for us!" Kaen said as they caught up.

"Zack has a lot of energy," Ozz commented, running and holding onto his big hat.

"And here I thought that humans were lazy, inactive beings with no drive," Ryld said with a chuckle. Zack heard him and grinned back at him as they ran.

"There's no time to waste! This is it - the greatest adventure of our lives! And the sooner we get to Corneria, the sooner we start!" He faced forward once more and increased his speed.

The others struggled to keep up, and so the Light Warriors run together through the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

They reached the outskirts of the city of Corneria by dawn, when the sun was just creeping over the horizon. The forest ended behind them, and a verdant plain opened ahead. A wide dirt road lead to Corneria's main iron gate, which was closed in the early morning. The city's stone walls were a welcome sight for Zack, who had been running ahead of everyone until then. In fact, he was so happy that he stopped on his tracks, staring at the city, now barely a mile away. After a couple of seconds the other three joined him, all breathless.

"I'm not used to so much running," Ozz said, leaning against Kaen for support. "I'm no sloth, but this is too much," the red mage said, leaning in turn to Ryld, who stood next to him.

"I don't think that Zack is human – humans can't run that fast, can they?" the elf said, then noticed Kaen leaning against him, and moved away. This resulted in Kaen falling down, and Ozz with him.

"Get your sweaty hands off of me," Ryld grumbled under his breath.

Zack was oblivious to all of this, still staring at the city. "Are you happy now? We made it in record time," Ryld said to him as he approached, standing next to him. "Aren't you gonna do a happy dance? Jump around? Yell like a lunatic?"

Ryld looked at Zack, and finally noticed that the fighter's eyes were closed – he was sleeping even as he stood. The elf poked his cheek with a finger, and Zack began tilting in the opposite direction like a statue, until finally collapsing.

He didn't wake up. In fact, he started snoring.

"Great," Ryld sighed. A quick glance behind showed him that the other two fell asleep on the ground. Ryld shook his head. "There is no way in hell that I'm sleeping a mile from a perfectly good city with perfectly comfortable beds. Besides, I'd look ridiculous, especially next to _them_."

So he knelt by Zack and whispered in his ear. "Wakey-wakey, we made it to the city and we're going to be _heroes_! Famous heroes!"

Zack's eyes popped wide open and a second later he was up on his feet. "We're here! We're doing this!" he said, fists clenched at his sides. And then he was running again, towards Corneria.

Ryld did the same with Kaen, but said something else. "Sarda was here – he's heading towards the city!"

Kaen's reaction was almost identical to Zack's, and the red mage pointed dramatically towards the city. "The prophet shan't travel alone! Wait for me, Sage Sarda!"

Off he went.

Ryld crouched next to Ozz, considering the sleeping mage's figure. "Hmm, this one is going to be tricky. What does _he_ like?"

He gave up after ten fruitless seconds and simply kicked the mage in the ribs. Ozz groaned in pain and slowly got up. He noticed Ryld staring at him blankly, and realized that his hat was on the ground.

"Here," Ryld said tonelessly, offering him the hat. Ozz thanked him drowsily and adjusted it over his head. "My ribs hurt. Did I fall on a rock?" Ozz asked, rubbing the area he had been kicked on. Ryld nodded.

Ozz noticed that both Kaen and Zack were running the last stretch to the city, and sighed. "I think we should join them," he said, and chased after them, holding on to his hat.

Ryld lingered on his spot for a moment longer, staring at the running mage. "So that's what black mages look like," he said to no one in particular. He hadn't noticed Ozz's face because he met him at night, and now that he had seen him hat-less... Ryld shuddered, trying to forget that and ran towards the others.

* * *

The guards by the gate stopped Zack, who kept running on the spot as they asked him some basic questions. When he told them "I'm Zack! Sage Sarda sent us! We're going to be the biggest heroes ever!", they looked at each other and opened the gate at once. When their commander demanded to know why they had done that without his permission, they told him, and he retracted his complaint.

Kaen arrived a moment later, after they had just closed the gate back. "Sage Sarda is near! I, Kaen the Red Mage, now also a Light Warrior, must meet him!" he said. The guards did as before, and the commander approached once more, and he yelled and retracted his yelling again.

They were half-way through closing the gate when Ozz arrived, panting. "Uhm, I'm here to see the king. I'm one of the Light Warriors. My name is Ozz, nice to meet you," he said to the guards, who groaned and opened the gate for him. This time the commander silently approached and nodded to them.

The guards wisely decided to keep the gate open a bit longer, and indeed, Ryld showed up. "Greetings, humans. Have you seen three-" he began to say, but the guards just shook their heads and gestured for him to enter, too tired to even greet an elven ambassador properly.

Ryld shrugged and did as invited. "Fine by me."

The commander of the gate watched the elf go in, and considered the iron gate, which was still raised. "Just keep it like that for half an hour – we don't know how many other Light Warriors might be coming."

* * *

Inside, the city of Corneria was just waking up, its inhabitants getting ready for another day of hard work. Things were going to be busy as always for all traders, merchants, farmers and workers in general – just another day. They only had to keep doing what they had been doing the day before, and let the army worry about the monsters, which were becoming a growing problem as of late.

Little did they know that that same day the four Light Warriors had reached their city. Or at least they didn't, until Zack told every single person, from peasant to noble, as he passed them.

"I'm still offended by your deception," Kaen was telling Ryld as they followed some feet behind Zack on a busy street. "Really, you could have woken me up through different means!"

Ryld shrugged. "Call me impatient, but I had no desire to wait for all of you to wake up so we could make it here. All I want to do is find a good bed and close my eyes, wake up when my legs aren't sore."

Zack was still meeting random strangers and telling them who they were, but attempting to shake hands with them didn't succeed. He stopped for a moment to wonder what he had done wrong when it dawned him that he hadn't washed his hands yet; they were sticky with Sarda's blood.

"Sarda's blood..." Zack said to himself, and then grinned. "Hey! Everyone! I've got Sarda's blood on my hands! Yes, it's prophetic blood! I saved him!"

People stared, kids asked their parents "who is that man?" and were told to ignore him, and more than once a soldier appeared to ask if everything was alright. Zack proudly displayed his bloody hands with a grin.

"I'm a Light Warrior! Look!"

The soldiers did. And then they directed him to the castle, which loomed tall in the center of the city. There was also a hint at "washing himself" before he met the king.

Ryld sighed. "I suppose we might as well meet his majesty first, and hopefully get to sleep on one of the castle's beds," he said tiredly. Kaen seemed to balk at this.

"What are you saying? We are _heroes_, my good elf! And heroes do not sleep on a king's bed, but on the road to their next quest," he said, nodding to himself. "Alas, that is the hero's journey, always full of troubles, but absolutely worth it..."

Ryld mumbled something that Kaen couldn't quite catch – it might have involved the words "idiotic", "delusional", and "buffoon" - but he wasn't sure. Perhaps the elf was speaking in his tongue, he told himself.

"Don't you agree, Ozz?" Kaen asked the mage, who had remained quiet until then, looking at the different stalls and markets as they went. "Hmm?" Ozz said, "Yes, the life of heroes sure is hard." And then he went back to silence.

Zack had found a water fountain and decided it would be a good idea to wash his hands there, and he did before Ryld could stop him. "At least you don't look like a warrior that came back from war," Ryld said. "Let's just get to the castle and get this audience over with."

"Sounds good," Zack said cheerfully. "Say, Ryld, are you an 'average' elf? I don't know many – actually, I don't know _any_ – so I was wondering if they're all like you, sneaky and stabby."

Ryld raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged. "Yes and no. Most elves are naturally quiet, since that's our nature and our culture. But me? I'm a bit different," he explained, finishing his words with a smirk.

"I'm a thief..."

The other three looked at Ryld in surprise.

"... of lives!" Ryld finished, drawing his daggers in one fluid motion. "I don't give, I _take_, and I can always see them before than they'll see me. That's my style," he said, putting his daggers back on his belt as elegantly as he had taken them.

Ozz clapped his hands politely, and Zack laughed at him, slapping Ozz on the shoulder. "How good!" Kaen said, taking out a scroll and grabbing his hat feather to write. "So now we have the black mage, the fighter, the red mage... and a thief! Our group is perfectly balanced," he said as he wrote.

"I'd appreciate it if you don't call me a 'thief' – it was only a metaphor," Ryld said, but Kaen wasn't listening, absorbed in his writing. He finished with a dramatic flourish and rolled up the scroll.

"And now, to the castle!" Kaen declared, pointing to the building, and beginning to walk towards it with determined steps. The others followed.

"Thank goodness - I thought he was going to _run_," Ryld said.

"My legs are tired," Ozz said to no one in particular.

* * *

By the time they had reached the castle, at least a quarter of the city had heard of a band of four, including a red-haired man with bloody hands, that was supposed to be a special group of sorts. It became the rumor of the day, but no more.

So when the Light Warriors arrived at the castle doors and announced themselves, it had actually come as a surprise. The guards at the gate opened the way into the castle at the same time as a messenger was sent running inside in order to let the king know who he was about to give an audience to, regardless if he was in the middle of a bath or not.

"Please, this way," a sergeant told them with a bow, offering to guide them to the throne room on the top floor. The four went along, admiring the rich decorations of the castle, which was bustling with activity from many guards and nobles. Everyone seemed to be in a panic about something.

"I've never been to a castle," Ozz said, his yellow eyes going from one exotic vase to a suit of armor, and more. "It's so big."

"No offense, but our palace is bigger and prettier," Ryld said in a low tone so that their guide wouldn't hear.

"This is awesome," Zack said with a smile.

"Indeed!" Kaen said. "An audience with the king himself! I wonder what epic task he will give us? Perhaps to slay a mythical monster in a labyrinth? Or maybe to retrieve legendary fruit, guarded by an immortal guardian?" The red mage looked through his scrolls as he spoke, reading his previous notes. "The possibilities are endless!"

Ryld hoped that his words weren't, because he was beginning to get a headache. And they hadn't even talked to the king yet. He heard Ozz say something, and didn't quite catch it. "What's that?" he asked the mage, who was looking at the tapestries.

"Twenty one," he said, as if that explained it. For Ryld, it didn't. "Twenty one... what?"

"Tapestries. That's how many I've counted so far," Ozz said.

Ryld had no answer for that. Zack leaned in from his other side, putting a hand next to his own mouth to cover it and said, "Don't worry - he does that."

* * *

After minutes of walking through grand corridors and climbing great stairs, the group had reached the door before the throne room. The sergeant had asked them to wait outside while he made sure the king was ready for them, and after a minute he was back. "His majesty is ready for you," the sergeant said. "You may enter."

He opened the doors and they went through. The throne room was the crown of the castle in terms of decoration, featuring enormous tapestries depicting heroes, some performing great feats, and other important figures. A long carpet of red silk with golden edges lead across the room to the throne, which rested on top of a stone platform.

The king sat on it, wearing his royal regalia, looking every bit the figure of royalty he was. He was a grown man, possibly in his fifties, with graying brown hair and a beard. His royal guard stood at attention on both sides of the throne.

"You must be the ones I've heard about," the king said, his voice deep and powerful, yet gentle. "I, King Ferdinand, welcome you to Corneria. Step forth closer, so we may talk."

The four did so silently and stood in a line in front of the king, who appraised them with a thoughtful look. "I would like to know your names, young warriors," he said.

Kaen bowed. "I am Kaen the Red Mage, at your service."

"My name is Ozz," Ozz said.

"I'm Zack," the fighter said, grinning.

"And I am Ryldael, ambassador of the elven kingdom of Arihele," Ryld said. He noticed then that the king's eyes hid no small measure of worry – but not about them.

The king considered their introductions. "You do look the part, I will say this much," King Ferdinand said after a moment. "But before we discuss the matter of the prophecy, there is something that you must do for me."

"Whatever you desire, your majesty," Kaen said with a deep bow. "We, the Light Warriors, are at your service."

King Ferdinand nodded. "In that case, would you kindly prove to me that you _are_ the Light Warriors?"

Kaen almost fell to the ground.


End file.
